Phobia
by Ranowa Hikura
Summary: Iruka has a secret- he's afraid of water. Not a big deal, considering he lives in Fire Country- until Konoha's hit by a flash flood. Iruka-centric, Kakairu. One of those give-Iruka-a-backstory fics.


So. Uh. Hi. I wasn't planning on working on Kakairu stuff for a while, since I have Reversal and Artemis Fowl to work on. Then, three hours ago, I got rejected from Stanford. (I'm... not... crying...) I needed something to distract myself with. Bringing this up to posting quality became it. Don't expect anything else from me in the near future, because I think my muse is dead for now.

* * *

Kakashi groaned as he dragged himself in from the storm, shivering and dripping and wholly an unrecognizable mess. The wind tugged the door shut behind him before he could, still howling and whistling on outside in the dark, and the jounin glared over his shoulder at the offending storm before he headed for the stairs.

He was exhausted, and for good reason, he felt, and the poor weather had only exacerbated his condition. It wasn't exactly easy traveling when the paths were reduced to sloshy mud and the leaves and branches whipped about and whirled in his face when he took to the trees. That, coupled with a minor case of Chakra exhaustion, left him relieved to be home.

The lights flickered ominously as he climbed up the stairs, and Kakashi sighed. _Wonderful. _

Shaking himself like a wet dog, Kakashi stepped out onto the second floor, searching through his vest for his lights flickered overhead again just as he found them, and he then found himself searching for the correct one in the dark.

The lights in Iruka's apartment were out, and the chuunin was nowhere in sight when he opened the door. Which was good; Kakashi smiled privately to himself as he began to rid himself of his sopping wet gear. That meant the teacher hadn't stayed up later than was healthy grading again.

Rather than wake the other man, if he could even sleep through the storm, Kakashi just draped his wet things over the back of a chair to dry and padded back to the bedroom wearing nothing but his damp boxers. He wanted nothing more than to burrow under the warm sheets, nestle up next to warm, warm Iruka, and never come out again.

The moment he twitched the blanket back, though, the Iruka-sized lump that was all he could see of the younger man curled up tighter and groaned. "Go 'way…"

"Don't send me out in the cold and rain, Iruka. I think it'll kill me." Kakashi crawled underneath the sheets and sighed in contentment, even as the other man jerked at the sudden, cold intrusion.

"Kashi…" he muttered into the pillow, voice slurred and sleep-addled. "Home. Welcome."

Kakashi chuckled softly, even as he slipped an arm underneath Iruka's sweatshirt to press it against his warm abdomen. The teacher hissed in discomfort, and Kakashi smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. It'll warm up soon."

"_Kashi..._"

Kakashi curled up his exhausted body behind Iruka's, reveling in the warmth, and closed his eyes. He went to sleep thinking that, even if the storm would still be raging on when he woke up the next morning, at least Iruka would still be here to keep him warm.

* * *

The storm was still raging when he woke up again, but it wasn't morning.

Kakashi groaned silently, cracking one eye open to glare into the dark. The pounding rain was a roar of noise, the wind was blowing, and he could tell by the state of Iruka's alarm clock that the power was, in fact, out.

His attention was drawn to the limb beating mercilessly against the window. That was what had woken him up, surely, and Kakashi felt a surge of irritation before reluctantly withdrawing from Iruka and the comfortably warm bed. Stupid branch. He wasn't about to get back to sleep now, not with it making all that noise.

Trying to keep quiet so as not to wake the chuunin, Kakashi fetched one of the kunai they kept near the bed and slowly pushed open the window, baring their room to the enraged elements outside. Kakashi shivered and balked as a gust of rain blew against him, splattering him with freezing droplets and a harsh wind cutting through his lithe frame.

"Son of a bitch…" he muttered to himself, voice drowned out by the storm. He reached out to pull the branch close enough to cut it, focusing on the offending limb with a single-minded intensity. _Stupid thing, keeping me from sleeping… unforgivable, that._

Kakashi was just about to cut off the branch when something else caught his eye.

Iruka's apartment was on the second floor, with the window looking out on the tall, grassy hill rather than the village. Kakashi knew that on top of that hill was a small river- it was always convenient to have natural running water in the village, after all- but that river wasn't so small anymore. Or a river, really.

The water had raised over the banks, pouring out from the trees to curl and rush and blast down the hill and to Iruka's apartment building. Kakashi opened his Sharingan in shock, narrowing it to see through the darkness, gasping when he saw that the water was much deeper than just a thin, harmless layer. It was at least six feet, possibly more, and the jounin jumped out the open window in shock. He hunkered down against the wall of the building, arm over his face to shield him from the worst of it, and made his way around the side to see what things looked like from the other side.

The water was no less deep there. It raged against the building, waves lapping against the sides and roaring out from below, and Kakashi looked down the rest of the street to find that most of the buildings were in a similar state as to Iruka's.

_Shit. _Kakashi remained frozen for only a moment longer before jerking his head back to stare at the sky. The Sharingan was good for more than just fighting, and Kakashi relied on it's versatility then to stare up at the roiling clouds and out to where they extended from.

_This is bad. _The storm wasn't going to end for sometime yet, and if it was already flooding, then this situation could get very bad, very fast.

The village surely was already aware of the situation, but Kakashi sent up a signal blast of lightening, just in case, and left the white light crackling in the air before sprinting back to Iruka's apartment. He ducked inside just as the teacher reached out to slam the window shut, blankets drawn tight around his shoulders and tired features drawn in annoyance. The younger man stumbled back at his sudden entrance, nearly tripping back onto the bed, giving a loud grumble of pure annoyance that Kakashi paid no heed to.

"Iruka, get up and get dressed now. It's flooding, and it's bad- help me wake up the rest of the floor. Then we have to get out of here. Water's rising fast; there's not much time."

There was a sharp, almost shaky intake of breath from the other, one that Kakashi was forced to ignore as he went about grabbing each and every weapon stashed around the room. Most were his, laced with poison- some of which reacted explosively with water. There was no need to add fire on top of water.

He heard Iruka hurry back to the window to check for himself, then gasped again, this one audible above the fierce storm as well. It was odd Iruka felt the need to check, but Kakashi let him, tossing a sweatshirt at his back before pulling one over his own head. When he emerged, the other man was staring back at him, shirt in his hands, brown eyes wide and disbelieving. A flash of lightening revealed his almost panic-stricken expression, and that, on top of everything else, was seriously a cause for worry.

"It's not flooding!" Iruka snapped, voice strained and a little unsteady. "It's not flooding, Kakashi, you're overreacting! It's just a little storm!"

Kakashi frowned. He tugged at the chuunin's wrist, impatiently trying to get him to move away from the window. "Iruka, what are you talking about; the whole street is underwater! Come on, hurry!"

"_No!_" the other man insisted. He yanked away from Kakashi and slammed the window shut, eyes even wider as he shook his head furiously. His unbound hair swished in front of his expression, obscuring the panic and- …fright?

Kakashi didn't know; he had never seen Iruka like this before.

"No! It's not flooding! This is Konoha, it never floods here- Kakashi, stop trying to scare me, it's not funny!"

He frowned deeper now. This was not at all like the Iruka he knew- but this was a serious situation, and Kakashi was fully in mission mode now, where he had no time to deal with others' fears or insecurities when there was a goal to accomplish and lives were at stake. "I'm not trying to scare you, now stop being childish. It's flooding and we have to get these people out of here! You're a water user, so you go down to the first floor and get anybody who's trapped out. I'll join you once I've gotten everybody on the second floor to safety-"

"I said _no_, Kakashi!"

The stubborn explosion was more than a little panicked, more than a little _frightened,_ and that was what stopped Kakashi in his tracks.

Iruka was human, and his lover was a shinobi who risked his life and came back half dead on a regular basis. He had seen Iruka afraid before. The occasions were rare, and Kakashi had never seem him afraid for _himself_ before- though he couldn't think of what else the other man would be fearing for now.

He had also never known Iruka to be the type to freeze up or refuse an order. Iruka was level-headed and kept himself together well in difficult situations- something like this should be nothing to him. And the fact that others in the building needed his help, and needed it now, and Iruka was just standing here motionlessly, flat out refusing to even accept the situation…

Something was wrong.

He took a moment to examine his wide array of options before he placed a calm, calculating hand against Iruka's shoulder and smiled, trying to comfort and sooth. "You're right, it's not flooding."

"Don't just say that to placate or patronize me! Don't go out there, Kakashi, it's dangerous!"

_First it's not flooding, and now, it's dangerous? _Setting aside thoughts of Iruka's illogic for now, he just nodded and kept his smile in place. "I won't, don't worry. But you need to listen to me- I want you to go to my apartment. My building's on top of a hill, so it'll be safe, at least for a while."

Iruka jerked away from Kakashi's hand and shook his head vigorously, body shaking with a touch of panic now. "_No!_ If I do, I know you, you'll go out there and be an idiot and try to help people- you'll wind up- it's too dangerous, Kakashi!" Iruka's cry broke off sharply and he actually stomped his foot, and Kakashi knew for certain then that something was seriously wrong.

Iruka didn't say it was too dangerous when he went on solo S-rank missions to Sound. For him to say it now…

Kakashi only felt the slightest bit guilty as he fueled his Sharingan with a bit more Chakra than usual, tempting it into a slow rotation. "Right," he agreed calmly, placing his hand back over Iruka's shoulder, "it is too dangerous. That's why I'm going to stay right here and be safe. But you need to go to my apartment, and stay there no matter what… unless the water gets too high and it's not safe." It wasn't a genjutsu, exactly, but enough Chakra to convince Iruka this was a good idea and that it was necessary. If Iruka didn't know and trust him implicitly it probably wouldn't even have worked, and he did feel guilty for abusing that trust- but the howling wind, pouring sheets of rain, and crashing waves outside were loud and present enough that that emotion was very firmly shoved away to be dealt with later.

The teacher blinked slowly, frowned, then managed a dazed nod. "I… uh… right…" he mumbled, and Kakashi pulled the shirt out of his arms and over the younger man's head before smiling at him again.

This was a weak technique, very likely to wear off by the time Iruka got to his apartment- or sooner. Kakashi could only hope Iruka wouldn't be too stubborn about this and would, instead, be content to seethe alone and wait until he could yell at him later. If Iruka ended up back out in the storm without the technique affecting him, in this condition…

Well, he didn't want to think about that.

* * *

Iruka's focus on the shining beacon of light that was Kakashi's apartment trembled, shuddered, and broke before he'd been on his way for more than two minutes.

He found himself standing on a slick rooftop, freezing rain dumping itself down on his head, wondering just why on earth he was so intent on going to Kakashi's apartment before the high, piercing scream broke through his mind again.

All anger at the jounin vanished at the cry, and he turned in search of the noise before dashing to the edge of the rooftop.

The sight below made him teeter on the edge, almost slip; his bile rose up and his gut tightened.

The waters were raging on below, up past the first floor of whatever building he was on now, black rapids pounding through the dark streets carrying debris, furniture, and clothes from the homes they had already ravaged. He licked suddenly dry lips and tasted salt, then breathed deeply, trying not to think about how it felt like he wasn't getting enough air and that it was suddenly hard to tell up from down.

This wasn't that night. It was fine, this was fine, he was in his village and there wasn't an enemy here. He wasn't going to drown standing up here and just because the water was so high up it would only take one wrong step to send him careening into its icy depths, that didn't mean anything was going to happen.

He heard the scream again, cutting through even the roar of the thunderstorm, and took one single step forward before finding himself rooted to the spot.

_Just like Matsuki-sensei… _

_"Help me! God, somebody help!" _

Iruka stared down into the water, heaving another breath through a mouthful of salt water that burned his throat and lungs. That woman was still screaming, and she needed help, but-

_A warm hand snagging his, yanking him away from the frozen rapids and holding him fast from the current. Something that wasn't freezing enveloping his hand and gripping him tightly-_

When the scream sounded again, Iruka had no choice but to go.

He took in one deep breath and dived into the water.

The icy current pushed at him and nearly swept him away, and it took a blast of Chakra to keep him from losing control of his body in the water. He flailed and struggled before curtailing his mind with an ironclad concentration, tossing away fears to be dealt with later as he buried himself in the task at hand. He swam with powerful strokes down after the scream, pushing himself deeper into the water until he managed to grab onto a doorframe to yank himself into what might've been a restaurant.

The water level in here was almost up to the ceiling, with just enough room at the top for one to breathe. Iruka snagged a quick breath before diving back down, peering about in a panic for the patron who was trapped.

Tables and chairs littered the floor, some broken from the powerful current. Remains of plates and dinners floated in the water, making the search even more difficult, and Iruka ducked around a few obstacles before anchoring himself around a pillar, forgetting about trying to swim and just looking for the woman in need.

_Come on, damn it… come ON, damn it! _

_Oh, god-_

_THERE!_

Iruka gripped the pillar tighter when he finally caught sight of the woman trapped beneath the split halves of a booth. One of them was lying directly on top of her, pinning one of her legs to the floor- it looked like it was far too heavy for her to move on her own, if she were conscious.

Which she wasn't.

Her head was lolling in the water, eyes shut and mouth slightly open, light brown hair floating up above her head as the current swayed her motionless body back and forth.

A sick shot of horror pounded through Iruka's heart, one that he very steadfastly ignored even though he felt suddenly so sick as if he might throw up. He kicked off the pillar and swam down to her, immediately wrapping one of her limp, cool arms around his neck before turning to deal with the booth.

_Was this how Matsuki-sensei felt when- shut up, Iruka! _

The water would slow his taijutsu, so beating the thing up to break it and render it harmless wasn't an option. So was ninjutsu; with the water currents this thick and fast, ti would take a lot of Chakra to take some of the water and use it for himself- the kind of Chakra that jounin had trouble summoning up. Iruka didn't want to risk it, not when the situation was so dire, and he floated in horror for a moment before whipping out the only kunai he had and beginning to cut at the wood.

He only had a minute to work, if that, and the water was slowing him down. Too much- far too much. He glanced anxiously at the woman's slack face before hacking at the wood again, his heart beating ever faster as he realized just how fruitless his task was.

_I'm not going to make it! _

Iruka dug the kunai into the wood in sheer panic before twisting to clamp a hand over the drowning woman's mouth. It took only the slightest bit of concentration to suck up and absorb the water in her mouth and throat, and only a little more to pull up the water from her lungs and absorb it into his palm. Once her airways were clear, Iruka leaned down and sealed his lips over hers, breathing out harshly twice before returning to his work on the booth.

The woman stayed unconscious, but she'd gotten air and that would keep her alive until he got her above ground.

_Hang on… please, hang on! _

He repeated the process of sucking the water out of her and breathing into her three more times before he'd cut through enough of the booth to free her without further trouble. Iruka wrapped her arm tighter around his neck, then kicked up and swam for the broken window. His lungs were starting to burn, hands and feet shake, and just when he felt he was about to burst he broke the surface and gasped, greedily inhaling breath after breath after breath before tremulously making his way over to another roof.

The water level had risen dramatically during his sudden rescue, so much so he simply had to reach up with one shaking hand to latch onto the roof. He heaved and coughed and struggled, panic burning in his veins even as he rolled the other woman onto her back and felt her pulse with trembling hands.

_I can't have failed. I can't have failed. I can't have. Matsuki-sensei…! I can't have failed-_

_Yes!_

Iruka fell back in an exhausted relief at the feel of a heartbeat. He gasped, face upturned to the pouring rain, droplets mingling with what might have been tears. His muscles trembled, aching and sore, his body protested even as he turned to look at the other woman's slick, slack face, breathing hard and gasping and maybe crying a little, too, heart pounding away in disbelief, exhaustion, and sheer relief.

He rolled the woman onto her side, which started the coughing and attempts to breathe, but Iruka himself didn't let go until she finally managed a hoarse, gasping breath and her eyes flew open.

_I did it. I did it, Sensei._

Another shinobi moving through the deluge joined him, kneeling by his side and asking if he needed assistance. Iruka shook his head and pointed, though it still took several seconds before he found his voice.

"No… not me. She does. Hospital. Nearly drowned, possible broken leg."

The other ninja nodded and followed through with his orders, taking the woman away and leaving him collapsed in the rain.

Iruka just lay there, staring blankly up into the darkness and fighting the trembling before he gave up. He shivered and stared and tried not to remember- but then he did.

_Kakashi. _

_Kakashi's still out there. _

Iruka sat bolt upright.

He could remember choking, the water twisting and turning him around like a rag doll, much too powerful for him to escape- being absolutely convinced that _he was going to die-_

_Kakashi! _

Iruka ran back into the storm. His only thought was that he had to get to Kakashi and stop him from drowning, too, because there was no Matsuki-sensei here to save him.

* * *

Kakashi extricated himself from Iruka's apartment building to collapse across the roof, letting out one weary, exhausted sigh and closing his eye for the briefest of moments. He and the two other shinobi of the building, Iruka excluded, had worked desperately to get the nine trapped civilians out of the first floor and keep them from drowning. The work was hard and took more energy than he could afford to give, in his already depleted state, but no one in Iruka's building had died and he could allow himself one short moment to relax.

Kakashi raised one cold, trembling hand to feel the lump in his vest. The water had been still rising when they'd finally gotten the last civilian out, the rain still pouring, enough to leak through and create a layer an inch deep on the second floor- Iruka's floor. The water had been rising fast; Kakashi had barely had enough time to grab three pictures, shove them under his soaked vest for protection, and run- he didn't even know what he'd grabbed.

At least he'd gotten what he could.

Now, to find the chuunin himself.

Kakashi wearily sat up and looked around the wet darkness. By now, every chuunin and jounin, and probably most of the genin, too, would be hard at work evacuating civilians to higher ground and making sure no one else was trapped underwater. He wouldn't be hurting anybody by going to Iruka- the situation was under control.

Besides, his jutsu had to have worn off by now. He was in for one pissed off chuunin.

If Iruka was even still in his apartment.

Kakashi was able to stand, stretch his weary muscles, and yawn before he was attacked by what felt like a small but _very_ powerful- and angry- creature.

He found himself forced down to his back again, one arm wrapped around his neck tightly while the other had fisted the front of his vest. He heard Iruka mutter something into his shoulder, shaking words inaudible over the rain, before the brown head buried itself in the crook of his neck.

Kakashi was sure he heard the words _idiot, stubborn, _and _moron _in Iruka's frantic mumbling, which trailed off into a whispered, "So glad you're okay…"

Kakashi stayed still, blinking down at the sopping wet figure molded around tightly around him. Iruka was shaking, badly, and Kakashi didn't think he had ever seen the teacher lose control like this. He lifted one tentative arm to wrap it around him, and Iruka melted in his embrace, shaking even harder-

For about three seconds.

Kakashi was taken by surprise when the chuunin abruptly yanked back to grab him by the shudders, brown eyes wide and enraged. "_You!_" he shouted, shaking him back and forth and looking just this short of hitting him. "You- you egotistical, insufferable, stubborn- stubborn _moron!_ Do you know how stupid you were?! You could've been _killed!_" Iruka's roving hands clasped over his mask and vest again, pulling at the obscuring cloth in a frenzied desperation that left Kakashi very worried indeed. "God, are you all right? Can you breathe okay? You didn't go into the water, did you?!"

"Iruka! Iruka, it's fine, I'm fine! _Really._" Kakashi let Iruka shake him for a moment longer before placing his hands over his, trying to convince. He held the teacher still, eye wide in earnest, Sharingan firmly closed, trying to get through to him that whatever he was so worried about hadn't and wasn't going to happen. "I'm really okay."

Iruka stared at him a moment longer, and now he seemed unable to decide if he wanted to hug him or hit him. Kakashi made the decision for him, stepping forward to slowly wrap an arm around the chuunin's tense, shaking shoulders, folding his freezing and wet form into a freezing and wet hug. "Come on," he said softly, after it seemed that Iruka had calmed down as much as he could hope for. "Let's go home."

Kakashi was relieved when Iruka shifted, stared back up at him for a moment longer, then gave a firm nod, grasped him by the wrist, and pulled him away.

The power was out all across the village, and it was half past four in the morning and still raining, billowing clouds obscuring even the moon, when the pair finally got home. It was far too dark to see anything, and it wasn't as if Kakashi were given the chance to light any candles or bring out any flashlights, because Iruka was on top of him the moment he was inside.

"You… you _idiot_… stay still, stop fighting!' Iruka snapped, slapping at Kakashi's hand when he tried to stop the teacher. "Can't believe you could be so stupid… just stay still, let me get you out of those wet things; you need to get into a hot shower now. Do you have medicine here, in case you get sick?"

Kakashi couldn't get a word in edgewise, not with the constant stream of orders and questions, and even when he clasped a hand over Iruka's pulling down on his vest zipper, it didn't slow him. The teacher just ripped his fingerless glove off, forgoing his usual penchant for neatness and just dropping it to the floor. Kakashi let him work until he was standing there in just his sleeveless ANBU top, boxers, and sandals, then took it upon himself to forcefully swing the younger man to lightly back him up against the wall.

"_Iruka._"

Iruka opened his mouth, but no words came out. His expression was torn- tortured, even- eyes wide and slightly unfocused, anxiety clear on his face, usually firm, steady hands trembling just slightly. Kakashi nodded when the chuunin remained frozen, slowly moving his tan hands down to rest by his sides. "Iruka. It's really okay. I'm not going to get sick, and even if I do the hospital is only a block away." And Kakashi honestly thought he would go, too, even for something as small as a cold, if it would only stop Iruka from worrying like this. "The rain'll stop soon, as well- it'll quit flooding and then, you'll see, it'll all be fine."

Iruka didn't exactly look very convinced, but at least better than before, and Kakashi was pleased to know he was making progress. He nodded slightly and began to slide his sandals off one-handedly, keeping his eye trained on Iruka's. "Come on. You should take a hot shower, too- were out there for just as long as me, and it looks like you got caught in the water as well. Take one with me?" It was said with only the slightest hint of a leer, but Kakashi was glad Iruka was present enough to shoot him a chastising glare- if the teacher hadn't noticed, that really would have been a cause for worry.

There were considerably less attempts at groping than usual- all on Kakashi's part, of course. Iruka was far too focused on warming his core temperature up to protect him from illness for the jounin to garner the usual flustered glares, or, if he was lucky, the playing along that always led to fun, fun places. Iruka only noticed one lingering hand, and he slapped it away without the slightest sense of hesitation or embarrassment.

Kakashi decided it was simply better to wait and let Iruka do what he needed to do. He was all too familiar with neurotic impulses, elaborate post-mission rituals, and habitual ceremonies, and knew it was best to not interfere until Iruka was calmer. He'd certainly put the younger man through worse after some of those bad missions, anyway. He waited as the teacher ensured he was no closer to hypothermia than he'd been an hour ago- that was to say, not at all- he waited while Iruka searched and gathered all the medicine he had in the apartment, just to be safe, waited until Iruka had nothing left to do besides sit and twitch nervously, stiff as a board and hands fisted in his lap.

Then, and only then, did he approach.

Kakashi held out the pictures he'd retrieved from his wet uniform for the chuunin's inspection, bare lips stretched into a gentle smile. "Here," he said quietly. watching as those brown eyes widened in first surprise, then a fond gratitude. "I got them from your place before I left."

Iruka took the three and hugged them close to his chest, square wooden frames wrapped up in a warm embrace that had Kakashi feeling jealous. He sat beside the teacher instead, watching as Iruka loosened his hold on the pictures, letting Kakashi see for the first time what he'd grabbed.

One was of Iruka and his first Academy class- Naruto's. A bunch of rowdy eight year olds Kakashi was convinced were at least partly responsible for Iruka's sky rocketing blood pressure, from shy little Hinata to the king of all pranks, Naruto. Said king of all pranks was standing right next to Iruka in the picture, twin beaming smiles shining on both their faces, a tinier but no less potentially annoying Naruto side by side with a younger Iruka- whose smile had only grown in potency over the years.

Iruka insisted it wasn't potency, but rather something less sinister. Kakashi, on the other hand, was firmly convinced only something dangerous and potentially harmful could ever make him do something like willingly go to the hospital or put away his Icha Icha.

The second memory he'd salvaged was one of Team Seven. The picture Kakashi had given him, because Naruto had been a bit too dense at the time to understand why Iruka would possibly want that picture. Naruto himself hadn't cared about the picture until later, after Sasuke had left, and he'd learned the definitions of sentimentality and the true value of preserved, prized memories of a better past long gone by.

Kakashi himself didn't like to look at it much. Seeing Sasuke's stubborn glare, Sakura's wide eyed naiveté, and Naruto's innocent little rivalry, made him think of regret and apologies- what he should have done, what he shouldn't have done, what he should have tried harder to protect.

But, this one was _Iruka's_ picture- and Iruka liked to look at it because it reminded him of Naruto- Naruto, who was now gone with Jiraiya.

Kakashi smiled himself, looking at the blond instead of the dark-haired Uchiha, for once, and decided that maybe the picture wasn't so bad after all.

The last picture was another genin team picture, but of a group less recognizable- and infamous- as the last. The tall jounin sensei was vaguely recognizable to Kakashi as a jounin elder from during the war, lounging back against a tree trunk in a careless display of grace with his head only partially turned towards the camera. He looked like a weapon's user- Kakashi could see three unusual tools on his person only without even trying- and his slight build bolstered the theory. One boy was standing stiff in the background, a katana sheath visible over his shoulder and a red clan insignia emblazoned on his right sleeve- with his expression twisted in exasperation.

Clearly, in exasperation at his other two teammates, who were elbowing each other out of the way to get into the front of the picture.

One was a small girl, her hair cropped short, a brilliant red, her wiry frame competing with her third teammate's for space. She looked honestly too thin to even be a shinobi, eleven year old girl or not, though that could've been because Iruka was blocking part of her frame from view.

Iruka's hair was just too short to be pulled back into a ponytail, so the long curtains of brown were mussed and tangled together, half obscuring his scar in the struggle for the limelight. His lips were upturned in a smile even as he fought for space, tanned cheeks colored in excitement and expression written in a childish glee.

Iruka's team was hidden as the teacher hugged the pictures once again, this time drawing an arm around Kakashi's shoulder as well. "…Thank you," he managed at length, voice low but sincere, and full of emotion.

Kakashi allowed the silence to return and persist, the only sound the gentle pitter patter of rain outside. The cool showers had weakened from the raging downpour of before to something calm and peaceful, the kind of rain that was wet and refreshing rather than chilling and pounding. The worst of the storm was over, now, and soon, the flooding would stop.

"Do you want to tell me what happened tonight?" Kakashi asked. His voice was quiet, barely intruding upon the contestant woosh of the wind and fall of the rain, and Iruka didn't so much as stiffen at the question. He remained entirely still and silent for a few long second before letting out a sigh, releasing the tension of the harrowing night in a breath of air that was hot against Kakashi's arm.

"…When did you tell me what happened to your genin team?"

The question was surprising, and certainly out of place, but Kakashi's only reaction was a slight frown as he answered. There was a point to be made with this, he was sure, but he had yet to see what.

"Two years ago, about. I was hurt, after a mission, and you noticed that no matter how many times you had visited me in the hospital, even if it was just for Chakra exhaustion, there was never anyone else there. You thought it was odd that not even my first team would come- heh, you were thinking out loud, I suppose, because then you realized what that probably meant and tried to blush and stammer your way out of it."

"Did I…" Iruka murmured, sounding almost curious, then laughed quietly to himself. "I suppose that's what happened. …It makes sense, then, why you never asked me the same. I don't go on missions, much- few opportunities for illuminating hospital visits." He laughed again, but his voice felt flat, and Kakashi merely shifted his arm more securely around the chuunin at what he had just indirectly revealed.

"It was one of our first C-rank missions," he began abruptly, eyes distant as if he were reliving the memory rather than just telling it. "And the mission went fine, actually. We collected the scroll without any trouble whatsoever and were on our way back home when- … our sensei was a bit like you, Kakashi. Plenty, plenty of enemies. More than most jounin had. But Matsuki-sensei wasn't at or even near kage-level, like you- he was just an elite jounin." Iruka chuckled again, corners of his mouth lifting in a smile. "Although, in our eyes, he was invincible and all-powerful, even stronger than Sandaime."

The soft grin died away in the wake of darker memories, and thunder rumbled outside, low and far in the distance, but existent nonetheless.

"Well, a group of Sensei's enemies ambushed us. We had never seen combat before- we were being tested on responsibility with non-combat C-ranks before Matsuki-sensei felt comfortable taking us out in battle. We had been a team for a while, but… Shima, you see, one of my teammates, had a weak body- she was a genjutsu specialist. That takes so long to become proficient in, and the higher ups wanted to make sure she could hold her own before giving us anything risky. …Well, obviously, that plan didn't work. And you know how genin teams react the first time they face battle."

Kakashi nodded uneasily. Rin and Obito, brand new genins while he, an experienced, time-tested chuunin- he had fought more than once, in the beginning, while his other teammates stayed rooted to the spot in terror. His own Team Seven had grown out of that rather quickly- something about facing an S-class missing nin with their sensei trapped in a water prison made them stop shaking and staring and start doing.

But, without exception, genin teams froze up in their first fight.

In fights against jounin, when missions went horribly, horribly wrong, that could spell death.

"It took Matsuki-sensei's all just to protect us. He couldn't fight them off. They herded us over a frozen lake… I didn't realize, at the time, I was just too busy running for my life and covering my head- …it was late December. The ice was solid. But they were fire users."

Kakashi found himself wrapping his arm closer around Iruka's shoulders, trying instinctively to warm him up from what he knew was coming.

The teacher closed his eyes, bowing his head at the memory, corners of his mouth tightening and lines of worry forming on his brow. "I've thought back on it a lot, over the years, but I still can't remember much. …I was underwater… I know Matsuki-sensei could've escaped, easily. He could've teleported out of there in an instant, because he saw it coming, even if we didn't. But he stayed. He tried to save us."

The Kakashi of before-Kannabi Bridge would call that man an idiot. Jumping beneath the ice was suicide. An ill-guided attempt to save a teammate could end up costing you your own life.

But the Kakashi of now could understand Matsuki's intentions only too well, and he listened with increasing dread as Iruka continued his story.

"By the time Sensei got to me, I was already unconscious. I woke up in a cave, pretty well off, considering I'd just survived drowning and nearly froze to death. But… Shima and Natsumi… Shima and Natsumi were…"

Iruka shook his head harshly and swallowed audibly, fists clenching around the fabric of his pants. When he had recovered himself enough to continue, his voice was shaking, eyes still shut tight. "Sensei was hurt. Badly. I think he must have fought off the other ninja after saving me and… and trying to rescue the others. We never figured out exactly what happened. But- well… the fight must have taken him a while, because-…"

"He didn't have time to try and prevent hypothermia until it was too late."

Iruka nodded as Kakashi murmured his realization aloud. "Yes," he whispered, voice strained. "…We both ended up with pneumonia that night. He was too weak to travel, and I couldn't exactly carry him, even if I were well. And with what had happened to Shima and Natsumi-…" He broke off and shook his head miserably. "…By the time Konoha came for us, I was living off water from melted snow, and Sensei had been dead for three days."

Iruka shuddered slightly, and his ragged exhale was shaking even as he persevered, leaning into Kakashi's one-armed embrace for comfort. "A-After that- … I knew the water killed Shima and Natsumi, and Sensei, to an extent. It almost killed me, too. And I know it's stupid, but after that- …" He shook his head weakly. "It was three days, in the hospital, before I could handle drinking water without choking on it. Months before I could do something like swim or use a water jutsu. I-…"

"You're afraid of water."

It was a statement, not a question, and Iruka flinched at the words rather than confirm it. He pulled away slightly to stare at the opposite wall and let out a tired sigh. "It's not that bad, really," he muttered, sounding as if he was trying to justify it to himself. "I got over it. I'm fine if it rains, demonstrating ninjutsu for my students- even on the annual class field trip to the lake. I'm fine, most of the time. But-… well, it's just- I guess-…" He trailed off and scratched at his scar miserably. "I've never seen it flood before, not like that. I… it just brought back bad memories, I guess."

Iruka's eyes closed briefly, and he ducked his head, as if lost in those same bad memories now. Kakashi rubbed his arm gently, trying to draw him out of it. "That's understandable, you know," he murmured, hoping he could convince him. "We all have fears, rational or no- and this could've been scary even without your past." _If I had known, I never would've so callously asked you to help… _

Iruka chuckled quietly, but the sound didn't sound very happy at all, not with his shoulders still slumped, eyes still downcast, and voice, shaky. He didn't sound like he believed Kakashi, either, and the jounin fell silent for a moment, trying to change of a different line of speech that could, if nothing else, distract Iruka. Sometimes, the best way to draw himself out of the memories of his own team when they got too heavy to bear was as simple as a distraction, and he hoped the same would work for Iruka.

"So, why haven't you told me about them until now?" he asked, careful to keep voice voice calm and not accusatory in the slightest.

Iruka shrugged, but seemed a little more focused on the situation at hand now that he had something to focus _on_ besides the memories. "Never the right time, I guess. It's not that I didn't trust you, don't worry… it's just not the kind of thing you can come out and say, you know? …You're not mad, are you?"

Kakashi blinked in surprise, then shook his head immediately. "No."

Iruka smiled faintly, letting out what might have even been a relieved sigh. "…Good. I- uh. I guess I got a little worried, too, about how you would react."

"How I would react?" _What on earth? _

He shrugged again. "Well… you're- _you_. You know. Hatake Kakashi- fearless Copy Nin, etc. etc. etc. And me- afraid of something as harmless as water? My own affinity?" He let out another chuckle, this one bitter and self-depreciating, and shook his head. "I know, I know, you're not fearless, and you don't judge, but-…"

Kakashi frowned, even as he tightened his hold on Iruka again. "Is that why you were worried? Iruka, I already told you, everyone's afraid of something. Even me." _Especially me. The thought of you out there tonight- it scared me to no end. _

"Yes. I know. …I guess it's just I got worried because of bad experiences beforehand. People, er… weren't always as understanding as you."

…_Ah. Now, I see. _"Who, specifically?" he asked, voice carefully controlled, but Iruka didn't miss the subtle flexing of his muscle and swatted at his arm in an immediate rebuke.

"No. Down, Kakashi. I certainly don't need protecting now, and this was years ago, any rate. Just- other genins my age. Kids who were still young enough to think that the _Umi no Iruka _that was afraid to get wet was hilarious."

Kakashi frowned, and the tension in his arms, the low anger at the ones who had teased Iruka, did not recede. "They shouldn't have been allowed to find out, anyway. It was hardly any business of theirs." He paused, then, in another effort to cheer Iruka up, forcibly lightened his voice and smiled again. "…You know, are you sure I can't do anything to help? if you'd like, I could hunt down those guys- teach them why bullying is rude, ninja style." He smiled, and Iruka buried his head and still slightly red cheeks into his shoulder.

"As amusing as that thought is, Kakashi, I don't think the Hokage would take kindly to being forced to charge you with four counts of attempted murder. And besides, if I wanted revenge, I would have gotten it a long time ago."

Kakashi grinned slightly. "I'm sure you would have." Because no one teased, made fun of, bullied, or hurt Umino Iruka without paying the price for it. And Kakashi may be Iruka's partner in crime, but the chuunin wasn't one of the best pranksters in Konoha for nothing- his victims were just a little more deserving now than they had been when he was a child.

The dark drag Iruka's memories left in the night had been lifted, just as the stormy night outside was being vanquished by a slow, slow sunrise. The rain was still falling, but icy sheets pouring from the sky had turned into nothing but a light drizzle. The lack of noise from a thunderstorm and gale drew attention to an otherwise companionable silence, making them both realize that the nightmare had ended. Iruka turned his head to look out the window in surprise, then stood, leaving Kakashi to follow him.

The jounin moved to stand at Iruka's back, by the still dripping window. The chuunin was working to open it, the latches stiff with water damage, and when he finally worked it up, a thickly fresh scent assaulted Kakashi's masked nose, of a musty dampness and mud, waterlogged air and leaves and plants uprooted by the storm. Iruka, too, shuddered at the overpowering smell, but he climbed outside regardless, worming up the extra few feet to sit on the roof. Curious, Kakashi again followed the silent chuunin, joining him on his building's roof to look out at the village.

The water level was done rising now, having finally come to a halt just above the hill that had become their safe haven, lapping gently at one of the few buildings not submerged. Some structures were under completely while others were only partially uninhabitable, and Kakashi had a feeling his building would be turned into a shelter for all the suddenly homeless. He could see countless shinobi walking across the newly created lake, many with civilians on their backs they were ferrying to other destinations. Still others were making their way with freshly constructed boats, and Kakashi wondered how much overtime Tenzou had already put in.

Despite the continuing rain, the sun was out, golden rays of light refracting off the multitude of droplets to create a shining deluge, still falling in a faint mist over the village. It turned the rain from something black and dangerous into something healing and beautiful, rippling the surface of the glistening lake as still as glass that turned Konoha into a watery home rather than a destroyed one.

"See?" he found himself murmuring to the chuunin, one hand resting on his shoulder. "Nothing to be afraid of."

And Iruka grinned, gaze still looking out above their now aquatic home. "I know, Kakashi. I know."

But his smile was still distant, and Kakashi sat down beside him, the two shoulder to shoulder, Kakashi's hand resting on his thigh. The chuunin appeared distracted, still partially lost in the tug of memories, and more to get that genuine smile back on his face than anything else, he continued on. "Iruka," he started again, voice soft and unobtrusive, "when I found you, earlier… you were so wet- you were in the water, weren't you?"

Iruka glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. He gave a small, confused nod eventually, muttering as sort of an explanation, "On my way to your apartment, I found someone trapped…" and Kakashi's smile broadened.

"And you helped them," Kakashi finished. "I'm sure it wasn't easy."

Iruka frowned back. "What's your point?"

"My point is… Iruka… Matsuki would've been proud of you."

This time, Iruka's answering smile was nothing less than perfect.

"I know, Kakashi. I know."


End file.
